When going through a divorce, you want to keep your child as happy and healthy as possible. Of course, this can feel like a feat when the very act of divorce itself brings so much stress with it.
But it is still possible to cut down on the negative impact as much as possible. Parallel parenting is one potential way of doing this.
How does parallel parenting work?
Psychology Today discusses the option of parallel parenting, which works for some divorced parents. This option essentially allows your child to gain the benefits of joint parenting without forcing you and your co-parent to work closely together before you are ready to do so.
In essence, you and your co-parent will keep a distance from one another. You will communicate through writing and text rather than through phone calls, video chats or in-person meetings. You can choose what written format to communicate through, such as emails, text messages, or even hand-written notes in a notebook.
What is the purpose?
The intention of this form of parenting is to allow both parents to have direct and meaningful interactions with their children and spend a good amount of time together. At the same time, it gives co-parents the distance they need to work through the negative emotions and difficulties of divorce without having to interact directly with each other.
This can also cut down on the possibility of spats between co-parents. It is often harder to start arguments if you have to write everything down first, rather than simply saying what comes to mind.
This is a temporary form of parenting and the court will periodically judge to determine if it is time to change to another form of custody.
